Runaway
by MissusSlimShady
Summary: Rin needs an out, and Len can't let her go alone. Rated M for heavy themes.
1. Day 0

I've always considered myself to be a pretty normal guy.

` I mean, I'll admit, I had my quirks, but I did good in school, had friends, had good parents, a fine childhood, the whole deal. I liked sports, video games, movies with lots of explosions, and rock music. That was really it. Just your stereotypical teenaged boy.

Every day in my life was the same, and that was the way I liked it. I know some people go insane just at the thought of repeating the same thing over and over, but it was comforting to me. Nothing unexpected ever happened. I could always repeat my comfortable lifestyle over and over. I was a forward thinker. My mind always wandered to what college I would go to, what career I would pursue, who I'd marry, how many kids I'd have, and all that stuff. Even down to the "one sport, one instrument" tradition, guitar and lacrosse, I was just a normal person.

And like a normal person, I had people that I cared about. I had my loving parents, but no siblings to fight with. So, I surrounded myself with a crowd of friends. I was decently popular, no quarterback on the football team, but close enough. I had always hoped to be popular in high school, but one thing they never tell you, and that you'll figure out really quick, is that being "popular" isn't all it's cut out to be. Being "popular" leads to, what I call, Stick Figure Friends. And I call them that, because, like stick figures, you know nothing about them, and you see them all the time. I couldn't tell you the favorite color of half the people I hang out with. I barely know any of their last names. I only know where they live because they throw awesome parties. Out of my herd, I had only two or three real friends. And I mean _real_ friends.

So, like a normal guy, with a normal life, on what seemed like a normal morning, I arrived at school a couple minutes before the first bell. The halls were already filled with hustling students, some carrying binders, textbooks, some instruments. I fell in with the latter; I had a single strap of my guitar case slung over my shoulder. Acoustics weren't that heavy, and my backpack was fairly light most of the time anyway, so I brought it to school often. This year, I wasn't taking the guitar class, but the teacher always welcomed me into the room with open arms. During lunch, I'd often find myself walking toward the noisy room. Sometimes, I'd even get excused from classes to play for the Guitar: Level 1 class. It was a plus.

Another upside to lugging around a large instrument all day was it gave you an excuse to shove past people. I imagined a bumper sticker on the bottom of my case with the words _Oversized Load_ in huge yellow letters. I snickered. A school full of teenagers would probably take that the wrong way.

"Dude." I felt a punch at my arm. I looked to my right to find the source of the call and the punch were Kaito. Not a Stick Figure Friend.

"Did you do Anderson's homework last night?" He asked.

I laughed. "I don't know the first thing about Chemistry." That was a lie. I knew quite a bit. But I still didn't do the homework.

"So no?" Kaito chuckled. "Nobody did. Why the hell am I gonna need to know about the atomic radius of a carbon atom anyway?"

Kaito. He'd been a friend since middle school, when we both tried to take the same girl to the Spring Fling. We beat the shit out of each other in the bathroom, realized that she was a bitch anyway, and have been best friends ever since. He was the black sheep of the hallway; it's not often you see people with deep blue hair. Especially when they towered over every other soul in miles. I was decently tall, but even I had to look _up_ at him. Today, the miniature giant was wearing jeans and a wrinkled t shirt that I instantly recognized. It was completely black, except for the white wording across his chest. The cursive writing spelled out the words _Sex Machine._

"Uh, Shion?" Despite our excessive friendship, we still referred to each other with last names more often than not. "How long did it take you to get ready this morning?" The longer I looked at him, the funnier it got. His hair was clearly not brushed, and he stunk. Bad.

He shrugged, oblivious. "I don't know. Why?"

I looked down at his shirt, then back up at him. It took him a second to lower his head, and gasp. "Fuck!"

"I don't think the teachers are gonna be too fond of that," I pointed out, highly amused.

He let out a distressed sigh. "They're gonna make me change, and then they're gonna throw it out. This is my favorite fucking shirt, too." He swiped a hand through his untamed hair. "Do you have a hoodie I can wear or something?"

I was still laughing. "Yeah. I think I have something in my locker."

Kaito crossed his arms, trying, and failing, to cover up the lettering. "Thank God."

My locker was at the opposite end of the school from the front doors. I turned into the hall where it was, and wasn't surprised to see Rin standing in front of it, digging through the clutter.

Officially, the school didn't allow locker partners to be opposite genders. Girls had to share with girls, and guys had to share with guys. Technically, it wasn't her locker, it was Kaito and I's. But he used his gym locker to keep everything in, and Rin didn't even get one assigned to her this year. Plus, it's not that hard to just tell her the combination. So it's our locker.

"Hey," I greeted as I walked up to her. She had her backpack propped up against her leg, and was loading binders into it.

"Hey," she said back in her usual, quiet voice. I looked into the locker, and reached over her to pull out the grey hoodie hanging from the hooks. Rin's eyes followed the hoodie as I handed it to Kaito, and a timid smile appeared. "Sex Machine?" She asked, turning her attention toward the locker once again.

"Shut up," Kaito muttered. "I slept in it last night."

She raised her eyebrows, not looking at him. "I can tell."

He rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm going to class. You two can be assholes together." He turned his back on us, and disappeared into the hall.

"Where does one even get a shirt that says 'Sex Machine' on it?" Rin asked. Her tone was monotonous. As it usually was.

I shrugged. "Why? You want one?"

She chuckled, but it was insincere. Only a few quick breaths out of her nose. "As if."

I leaned against the lockers. "What's up with you?"

She shook her head. "Nothing."

"You're acting… quiet," I pointed out.

"I'm a quiet person."

"But… like, more quiet than usual."

She halted her movements, clearly frustrated with my prying. For the first time that morning, she met my gaze with her piercing blue eyes.

Rin. Not a Stick Figure Friend. My parents and hers, when they were still around, were best friends when we were kids, and we lived right down the street from each other, so we saw each other almost every day. That is, until middle school, when we had a falling out over some stupid issue that I don't even remember. We only spoke once during those years, and even then, we were both hesitant to be near each other. But we reconciled during our freshman year, and have been closer than ever since. We were an odd combination. She was generally quiet, introverted, and shy. I was loud, extroverted, and loved nothing more than a crowd of people around me. I lived in the future, she lived in the present.

She was a nice person. She rarely smiled, and even more rarely smiled genuinely, but she wasn't rude. Just monotonous. Her expression was blank in ninety percent of my memories of her. But she held doors open for people, said her "please" and "thank you's," and did all her schoolwork. I would also be lying if I said I didn't stare at her every once in awhile when she wasn't looking; she wasn't hard on the eye to any extent.

"I'm allowed to be quiet, Len," she scolded, her expression turned slightly harsh. Taking a closer look, I could see the circles under her eyes. She wore no makeup this morning, which was out of character for her. She looked exhausted.

"Yeah, but-" I was interrupted by her slamming the locker shut, and turning her back on me. "Rin-" I called after her as she left, but she didn't look back. She only kept her head down, and a binder clutched tightly to her chest. I sighed, and concluded that she'd probably just stayed up late doing homework. I was slightly disappointed that she'd closed the locker, though. I needed my binders.

The next time I saw her that day was at lunch. We always met at the top of the stairs leading down to the cafeteria. Sometimes we detoured to the guitar room; other times I drove us out to the nearby Taco Bell in my moms car. She let me borrow it most of the time, as she was the stay-at-home-mom of my little sister.

But today, when I found Rin at the top of the stairs, we didn't start walking toward the guitar room.

"I have something to show you," she said. Her binders had been returned to the locker. The only thing she had was a small satchel she always carried around.

"What is it?" I asked, surprised. Any interruption in my normal day was uncomfortable for me.

She began walking down the hallway, opposite of the way which I came. She dodged through the crowd of hungry students, and it was hard to keep up with her small figure through them. When we finally cleared the worst of it, she fell into stride next to me. We were in the band hall now.

"So I'm taking Tech Theater this semester," she began.

"I know." She complained about it to me for hours the day we got our schedules assigned last year.

"And while everyone was touring the catwalks, I found a secret." Her tone was devious. I often paid a lot of attention to how she said things. A lot of the time, it was the only way to know what she was thinking. Or what she was feeling.

"A secret?" I didn't like the sound of that.

"A secret," she repeated. "And if we get caught up there we're screwed. But I don't think Mrs. Thompson has a Tech class this period." We reached the end of the band hall, where the hallway split into two paths. Both led to the theater; there were just two different entrances. "Come on," she motioned as she started down the right. I followed hesitantly.

The hallway sloped down towards a set of double doors on the left, leading to the theater. Beyond the doors, there was an exit on the left, as well as a wooden door on the fall back wall. My heartbeat picked up even more as she completely ignored the entrance to the theater, and stopped in front of the mysterious door in the back. I hadn't come down this hall often; I wasn't a theater kid, but I knew enough to say that the mysterious wooden door was always locked. _Always._ While that normally would have comforted me, it only made me more anxious knowing she was up to something.

She unbuttoned her satchel and pulled out a key. My eyes bulged. "Where did you get that?"

She looked over her shoulder, and slid the key in. "Thompson just leaves the keys hanging on a hook in her office."

"So you _took it?"_

Her eyes looked up at me sheepishly. "I wanted to show you."

I stared down at her, not believing what i was hearing. "You know," I pointed out after a pause. "For a straight A student, you're a _really_ bad kid."

She pushed open the door. "That's why they never suspect me." She stepping into the darkness behind the door.

"You do know you can get arrested for this kind of thing, right? If they catch you with that key…" I trailed off. She had completely disappeared into the darkness. "Rin?" I called softly.

"Come on!" I heard her insist from behind the door. A light suddenly lit up, and I sat Rin holding her phone up. She had turned its flashlight on.

"Dude… This is creepy," I admitted. "Where is this?" I stepped into the room, and shut the door behind me. The only light was Rin's flashlight.

"We're backstage," she whispered. The beam of light illuminated a black, metal ladder right next to the door. She stood in front of it, and looked up.

I shook my head. "Nope. No fucking way am I going up there."

"Shh!" She shushed.  
"Why do we have to whisper?" I lowered my voice.

"Just in case Thompson is in her office."

I looked up the ladder. The top wasn't even visible; it disappeared into darkness. "I can't go up there."

"Oh come on, Len," she muttered. "Where did you _think_ we were going when I said catwalk?"

I shook my head, trying to find my words. "Not… not the catwalk!"

She let out a huff. I couldn't see her anymore; just the hand holding her phone. "You're gonna have to leave your guitar down here."

"What if someone finds it?" 'Till death do I part with my precious instrument.

"They'll think it' a stage prop and leave it alone! Now hurry up. Before we get caught."

I sighed, and took my case off my shoulder. "Can you aim the light at the ground please?" She did so, and I set it on the ground behind some random stage props. I hid my backpack behind it.

"Okay," she said with a deep breath. "Do you wanna go up first? Or you want me to go?"

"You go first," I answered without a thought.

"Are you sure?"

I nodded. She had the light aimed in my general direction, but turned it back to the ladder.

"Okay," she said again. Her feet padded lightly on the hard ground as she took two decisive steps up to the ladder, and began climbing. She held her phone in one hand, clumsily gripping the bars.

"D-Don't fall!" I stuttered. My nerves were getting the best of me. All I could see of her as she climbed higher and higher was the moving light of her phone.

I heard her groan. "I'll be-" she cut herself off with a brief squeal, and I instinctively jumped underneath the ladder.

"Rin!" I yelled, completely forgetting to be quiet.

"I'm okay," she called down. "My foot slipped."

My shoulders relaxed, but my heart was still pounding. "Are you almost at the top?"

"I'm-agh, I'm up." There was shuffling and the quiet _clang_ of feet on metal. She aimed the light down at me, and my eyes widened. She was the light at the end of my tunnel, except she was above and she was _so far away._

"How tall is this thing?" I asked. I put a hand on the metal bar experimentally. Of course metal could hold me. But I was still scared.

"Len!" She scolded. "Now is not the time to be scared of heights! Let's go!"

I took a deep breath, slightly encouraged by her words, and pulled myself up. The bars were cold, they seemed to creak with every step, and they went on forever. But the light generally got closer, and I didn't slip, and centuries after I began climbing, I pulled myself onto the platform next to Rin.

"Alright." She sounded pleased. "Now the scary part."

" _Are you kidding me-"_

"Chill out! Just…" she took a deep breath. "Just don't look down." She laughed. "I mean, not like you can see the bottom."

"Oh God." My breathing was heavy. "This is some Silent Hill shit." I felt to my sides for the railings, and gripped them with sweaty hands. "Why are we up here?"

"There's a room over the stage," Rin told me. "Just follow the light."

 _Like I have any other choice,_ I thought to myself. She began walking along the catwalk. Her flashlight revealed the path in front of us. The walkway continued straight, and turned to the left. Rin followed the path to the left. I tried taking her advice by not looking down, but her light was bright enough to outline the seats below us. I could only see their shadows in my peripheral vision, but it was still enough to make me dizzy.

Another fork in the path was ahead. One right, one left. Rin turned left again, and began walking quicker. "We're over the stage now. If you fall, it'll just be onto the stage."

"Gee. A whole four feet less. That makes me feel so much better," I muttered.

"There's some steps." She ignored my sarcasm. "Watch your step."

The railing slopes down before the steps, so it wasn't too much of a surprise. And the next thing I knew, I was walking on wood. And surrounded by four walls. It was still mega-creepy; it was like being in a huge cardboard box. There were no lights, no furniture, no carpet or wallpaper, nothing.

Rin aimed the camera along the walls. "Cool, huh?"

"What is it?"

"I dunno. Probably an old storage room, or something." As she walked on the wood, it shook below us.

"I don't trust this floor." I tapped my foot lightly. It felt like it was made of a single layer of plywood.

She huffed. "The tech equipment is so heavy. If this _was_ the old storage room, it'll easily hold a person." She sat down against the wall opposite the entrance.

I sat next to her. In my mind, I knew this couldn't be the storage room. She seemed to have overlooked the fact that we had to take a ladder to get up here. If the equipment was as heavy and large as she was saying, it'd be impossible to bring it up here. Or get it down, for that matter.

She sighed. "Can I turned the flashlight off? We're not using it, and it'd be kinda bad if my battery died right now."

I nodded. I was surprisingly calm now that we were sitting down and safe. She pressed a button on her phone, and we were wrapped in darkness. The only way I could tell she was still next to me was the steady sound of her breathing.

"Camden didn't come home yesterday," she admitted.

I blinked. There was no difference when I closed and opened my eyes. "Again?"

"Yeah. He won't answer his phone, either."

I bit my lip. "Do you need to come stay with us until he comes back? You're always welcome to."

She sighed. "I know. I just… I think something happened to him."

It wouldn't be the first time her older brother has gotten in trouble.

"Whether it be the police or his… business… I don't know. But I have a bad feeling about it."

"Do you have food? Are the bills paid?" I had always been concerned about her lifestyle, but things had been pretty calm on her end lately. Her brother may have been of age, but he was definitely not ready to own a home and take care of a sixteen year old.

"I think so," she answered. "He'll probably be back before long." She seemed to be trying to convince herself more than me.

We fell into silence once again. I didn't know how to respond to her.

It didn't last long. "Len?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever been to the Rockies?"

The question would have took my off guard if I hadn't become accustomed to her asking random questions. "Like, the Rocky Mountains?"

"Yeah."

"No," I answered. "I haven't."

"Oh," came her disappointed reply.

"Have you?"

"Once. When I was little."

"Oh yeah?" My curiosity had peaked. "What was it like?"

"My whole family was going camping at this really discreet spot in Colorado. It was in the middle of Spring, and it was gorgeous up there. There are _so_ many aspen trees up there. And they have these cute little circle-shaped leaves on them, and they're really tall. And they're all connected. Did you know that? All aspen trees in a certain area have the same roots. It's just one giant tree, with different parts above ground."

I smiled. I loved when she went on these little tangents. "No, I didn't know that."

"Yeah," she continued. She sounded like a child in her wondrous tone. "And they have the prettiest flowers up there. They always bloom right at the base of the trees. My favorite ones are the purple ones. Anyway, we stayed up there for almost a week, and my Dad would take me hiking to all these random places. It was obvious to me that he'd been camping there before, and he took me to a different spot every day. Now, mind you, I was only twelve or thirteen. I couldn't climb up the side of mountains with him. But we went down to Steamboat Lake one day, and the water was so clear. It wasn't even blue. It was _clear._ We went fishing in it, and when the little shits came too close to the shore, you'd be able to see them wiggling around. And our campsite was _huge._ We had, like, twenty or thirty people with us. And we'd sit around this huge bonfire and roast marshmallows and stuff."

"That's awesome," I encouraged. She was adorable.

"It was. And my Camden and I had a tree climbing race." She laughed. "I won, obviously. He was too big for the branches of the aspens to hold him. But I wasn't. And I got the sleep in the RV because of it." She giggled, and then went silent again.

"Sound amazing, Rin." I was starting to not mind the trip up here anymore.

She took a deep breath. "Yeah. It was pretty cool."

When it was clear she wasn't going to continue, I spoke up. "Why do you ask?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you ask about the Rockies?"

She didn't say anything for a second. "They're just so cool," was her excuse. "Next time we take a trip up there, you should come with us."

That put us into an awkward silence. It was a shared, unspoken knowledge that she wasn't going on any expensive trip for quite a while.

We both nearly jumped out of our skin as the bell rang. It was considerably louder up here, and it seemed to shake the walls. I covered my ears, jumping to my feet and quickly feeling my way out of the room. Through the ear-splitting ringing, I could just barely hear Rin's footsteps behind me.

Going down the ladder was much faster than coming up it, mostly because I knew the theater class would be coming soon, and Rin and i grabbed out things before running out the maintenance door into the hall.

"Jesus," I panted as we finally rejoined our peers in the main hall. "That is the last time I let you talk me into something."

She said nothing. She gave me only a small smile in response.

We split up to head to our last two classes of the day. After pushing past a horde of teenagers, I met Kaito in Chemistry. He was still wearing my hoodie. I grinned when I saw him. "You're welcome."

He rolled his eyes when he saw me. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Whatever."

The rest of the day seemed to drag on, but the dismissal bell finally rang. I hung around the main hall for a couple more minutes, talking to some friends, while I waited for the traffic outside to clear up. When I was confident that I wouldn't be sitting in the parking lot for half an hour, I went to my car, threw my guitar in the trunk, and drove home.

When I walked in my front door, I was met with the sight of Dad sitting on the couch, typing away furiously on his laptop in front of the T.V.

"Hey, Dad," I greeted as I shut the door behind me.

He didn't look up from his typing. "Hey."

"Working?" I walked across the living room. He didn't yell at me for blocking the T.V, either.

"Mhmm," he grunted in response. And that was the end of that conversation.

I retreated to my room in the basement, not bothering with greeting Mom. She'd say the same thing Dad said.

The basement was all mine, and, even though I was living the "in your parents' basement" cliché, I loved it. I had my own living room, my own bathroom, my own T.V. Hell, even my own kitchen. I never used it, but it was there. Most, if not all, the furniture down here I had bought myself. It was an agreement between my parents and I that I'd take all of it away with me when I headed off to college.

I set my guitar case down at the foot of the stairs, and dropped my backpack on the floor next to it. With my phone in hand, I dropped onto my couch, and typed away.

 _I want my hoodie back,_ I texted Kaito. _Don't forget._

He didn't immediately text me back. I snatched the remote to my hand-me-down T.V. off the coffee table and flipped it on while I waited for a text back.

I felt my mind wander as I stared mindlessly at the screen in front of me. Somewhere in the maze of my thoughts, I must have dozed off.

The ringing of my phone on the table in front if me yanked me out of my sleep. I shot up, grabbing it quickly. My half-open eyes could just make out the name "Rin" on the screen. Above it, was the time. 10:34 p.m.  
"What?" I answered, annoyed.  
"I'm leaving."  
Her tone was so simple and flat, it took me off guard. "W-What?" I repeated.  
She took a deep breath. Her voice was calm. Like she was having a normal conversation. "I'm leaving."  
I took a moment to gather my thoughts. "Where are you going?"  
There was a slight pause, and then a small "I don't know."  
I stood, grabbing my jacket off of the table. "Rin, where are you? I'll come get you. You can stay with us again."  
"No, no. I'm at the house. Camden didn't come home. I'm sick of it here. I'm leaving."  
I put on my jacket. "Come on, Rin. It's late. Just stay over here. You'll feel better in the morning, I promise."  
"You don't understand," she spat out. Her sudden anger stopped me on my way to the door. "I'm. Leaving."  
I stared at the floor mindlessly as my thoughts began to race. "Like... Running away?"  
"I hate it here. I can't be here. I need a break."  
I shook my head. "This is crazy. Where are you gonna go?"  
"Anywhere except here."  
"You can't just-" I rose my voice, only to remember my parents were upstairs sleeping. "You can't just walk around the city by yourself."  
I heard shuffling on her end. "I'm not gonna be in the city."  
She can't be serious, I thought. "You have to have some idea of where you're going."  
A pause. "I'm going on a trip."  
My mind immediately flashed to our conversation we had above the theater. It clicked.  
"You are not going to the Rockies."  
She let out a quick breath. "Len, I have to. I have to go."  
I began pacing around the room. "How the hell are you gonna get there? You can't just walk to the next fucking state!"  
More shuffling. "Watch me."  
I ran a hand through my hair. I couldn't let her do this. "It's dangerous out there. You could get hurt. What are you gonna do when it gets cold? It snows a _lot_ more in Colorado than it does here, Rin."  
She didn't say anything.  
"Rin?" I asked, looking down at the phone. The call was still active.  
"I'll be fine," she said. But there was the tiniest waver in her voice. The smallest sign of uncertainty, but it was there. She was scared. Then why would she think of something like this?  
"You can't just leave," I desperately tried to convince her. "What'll happen if Camden comes home and you're not there?"  
"I wouldn't care." She spit the words out like they were poisonous.  
I tried to think of something - anything - to say to try and convince her how terrible of an idea this was. A five-foot four teenage girl walking through the city by herself at night with nothing to defend herself with? "Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?" I asked aloud.  
"It's better than this fucking cage they call a house," she answered. Her voice was back to its monotonous state.  
Nothing would work. How was I supposed to go to school the next day knowing that my best friend was walking to Colorado by herself? How was I supposed to go on not knowing whether she was alive, or lying somewhere in a ditch? What if she starved? What if she froze overnight? Where would she sleep? Or, best-case scenario, what if the police found her before she left the city. The idea came to me that I could simply call the police, but that wasn't like me. Rin knew I wouldn't tell. Just like I wouldn't tell anyone about the secret room above the theater. But there had to be something I could do to help her.  
I opened my mouth before I even knew what words were coming out of it. "I'm coming with you."  
There was a stunned silence over the phone. "What?" She asked, in the same tone I had used only minutes ago. Oh, how the tables have turned.  
"If you're doing this, then I'm going with you. I can't let you take on the world on your own."  
"Len... You don't have to do this."  
My eyes fell on my school backpack. I kneeled down next to it, using my free hand to yank open the zipper and spill its contents onto the floor. "I do," I replied as I ran over to my dresser and began to shove clothes into the empty bag. "What are you packing?"  
She seemed hesitant to answer me. "Um... Water bottles and food."  
"I have warm clothes. Money?" I asked.  
"I have about four hundred saved up," she answered.  
Saved up? I thought to myself. I was so distracted with my packing, I couldn't distinguish the voice in my throat from the voice in my head. I dropped the filled backpack next to my coffee table, turning off the T.V. so I could have at least one less distraction. My wallet sat on the table next to my car keys. I unfolded the leather pocket, revealing the remnants of this months allowance. An entire forty dollars. "I don't have much," I told Rin. The phone was wedged between my ear and my shoulder.  
"That's okay," she assured me. Then, as I picked up my car keys - "We can't take the car. They can find us then."  
I bit my lip. "Okay." I felt crazy, but I dropped them back in the table.  
"We can't bring our phones either," she continued. "In fact, we should hide them. Or destroy them."  
"You've really put a lot of thought into this, haven't you?"  
"Bring your phone to the house. We'll break them here." I heard the sound of something zipping on her end.  
I threw my backpack over my shoulders. "Okay. I'll be over in a few."  
"Okay. And Len?"  
"Yeah?" I lowered my voice as my hand fell on the door handle to the staircase.  
"Thank you."  
I smiled, despite the madness I was getting myself into. "No problem."  
"See you in a few."  
I nodded, then hung up. Just as I was about to leave my room, I shot one last look at my guitar case, and grabbed it without even thinking twice.  
I ascended the stairs, flinching at every creak. Mom and Dad were no doubt asleep upstairs. Even though I had nothing to worry about, I was scared. I wasn't used to adventure. This had to top off the list of the craziest things I'd ever done.  
But we'll be back soon, I assured myself. I opened the front door to my house, locking it behind me. The cold night air hit me the second I stepped outside.

My backpack was was surprisingly light on my shoulders. I have to admit, I didn't pack much. The idea that we would be gone any longer than one night was belong me. The only things weighing down my back were two jackets, and two extra pairs of jeans.

I walked along the quiet sidewalk with little worry in my mind. I'd been a part of Rin's stunts before. Hell, I'd been part of Rin's stuns _today._ She'd get cold tonight, and we'd be on our way back home before the sun even came up. My parents would never even know I was gone.

The second she opened her front door, however, I began to have my doubts. She was dressed in all black, warm clothes, too, and had a large camping backpack strapped to her back. She lifted an eyebrow at me. "You're binging the guitar?"

I patted the case lovingly. "It's my baby," I cooed.

She rolled her eyes, obviously not finding my jokes amusing at the moment. "Come on." She pushed past me as I spoke. "We need to get going."

"Where's the fire?" I grumbled as she sped past me.

"Come on," she demanded one last time. She looked over her shoulder at me. "Let's go."


	2. Day 1

The guitar case began wearing down on my shoulder much quicker than I expected. We had already stomped through half of the city, Rin leading with me close behind, and with every step I felt more uneasy. We were getting further from home. It would take us longer to get back. When are we going to turn back?

"How much longer?" I asked her, rather stupidly.

Rin chuckled. "Until what?"

"Until we're out of the city." I tried to mask my stupid question as quick as possible.

"If we walk through the night we'll be long gone by sunrise," she informed me as she stepped around the corner of yet another alley. We'd traveled through many in the past few hours, and they were all beginning to look the same to me. Trashed, empty, dark. Too fucking small. I swear, every one we went through was smaller than the last.

She looked back at me. "I think we could take the sidewalk from here."

I set my case down on the cement, taking every chance I could to get it off my shoulder. "Why couldn't we take the sidewalk in the first place?" I was more than a little annoyed at this point.

"Do you _want_ the cops to pick us up and bring us home for curfew?" She put her hands on her hips. Great. Only a few hours into this trip and we were already arguing.

"Are they not gonna pick us up here for curfew violations?"

"No," she scolded. "They're not. We're in the ghetto, now. They have bigger things to worry about than two teenagers walking the streets at night."

"Yeah," I replied skeptically. "Okay."

She gave me a sour look. "Come on. Let's move."

I sighed, enjoying my last moment free of the heavy burden I brought. _Why_ did I bring this thing?

I heaved it up onto my shoulder, and followed her into the street. It was empty. The streetlamps illuminated the street in orange hues, set in a continuing pattern until the street ended a few blocks down. The building surrounding us were unkempt and dirty. The usual slums of any city.

A breeze blew past, and Rin hugged herself to keep warm. "Do you know what time it is?" she asked. We started down the street.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket. "It's almost two."

She shivered slightly as she spoke. "Damn."

"Do you want a jacket? I packet a few."

She shook her head. "No, I'm okay."

We walked a few more steps. And then she stopped so abruptly I almost ran into her.

"Wait. How did you know what time it was?"

I gave her a weird look when she turned to face me. "Um, I looked on my phone?"

Her expression was dire. "Shit," she muttered, yanking my phone out of my hand and pulling her own out of her pocket. "Do you think they can find us with these?"

"I don't know. But Rin, please don't smash my phone."

She held the devices in one hand above her shoulder, as if preparing to throw them. "If they can find us-"

"Rin, goddammit, they're not gonna find us. It's not like we're going to call anyone, or anything. You're being way too-" I cut myself off. Her gaze was no longer focused on me, but on something behind me. I instinctively turned my back to see a figure, far down the street in the direction we came. He looked like a male from this distance, and was walking down a street perpendicular to our own. He kept walking as he crossed the street, head down and eyes ahead. He didn't seem to have seen us.

"I know that guy," Rin whispered, as if he could hear us from that distance. Her hand was still holding the phones at the ready.

"How can you even tell who that _is?_ " I asked.

She didn't answer. She only shoved my phone into my chest, pocketed her own, and began walking down the street after him.

"Rin, are you serious? Are we really gonna backtrack for this _one guy?_ " I had no choice but to walk after her.

"It'll only take a minute," she assured me. But she was still whispering.

"Do you really have to talk so quiet? It's not like he's gonna hear us."

"She," she hushed me. We came to the corner where we saw him disappear, and looked down the street for him. He was still walking, his back now to us. "You'd be surprised how far sound can travel."

I rolled my eyes, already fed up with this whole ordeal. _I could just go home,_ I reminded myself. _No one is making me stay here._ But I couldn't take the idea of Rin wandering these streets by herself. She thinks she's tough. She's not.

The man turned another corner. We followed him a few blocks behind. We didn't have to go much out of our way, however. A couple minutes later, he entered a thin, tall building at the corner of a street. One of the streetlamps was out on the other side.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Come on," she repeated. She jogged silently up to the house. It was made of cracking bricks. A window was to the right of the door, curtains hanging on the inside. Through the cracks, we could see light.

Rin's eyes darted around, looking for something. She then dashed for a small alley between this building and the one next to it.

"What are you _doing?_ " Even I was whispering now.

She didn't answer. Instead, she ran down the path. It was a dead end, and didn't stretch very far. There was a dumpster on the right. It was leaning against the building, and was conveniently placed underneath another window. This time, there were no blinds. Rin scrambled on top of the metal dumpster. I leaned my guitar against the building, and crawled up next to her. I felt disgusting on top of the rusted, filthy thing. The garbage men must have skipped this street for the psat three years.

"Rin, what the hell?" I groaned as I found my place next to her.

"Stop asking questions," she demanded, as she peered through the window. We were both sitting on our knees. The window was at the perfect height for us to be able to see, and also be able to duck down if need be.

"What do you see?" I'll admit, I was a little afraid to look. It was pretty creepy walking around these streets at night.

But I didn't have a choice. "Look," she said. Her voice even more flat than usual, if possible.

I gathered up all my courage, and peered over the ledge.

It looked like a living room. There were people crowded all around. It wasn't a party, however. Most of them were sitting on the ground. The place was completely trashed, with mattresses strewn about the ground with unconscious people on them. There were food wrappers, beer bottles, and god knows what else on that floor. Scantily dressed women who were much too skinny, and men leaning up against them with cigars between their fingers. I imagined that, if the smell of expired garbage wasn't crowding up my nostrils, I'd smell alcohol. And smoke. From what? I didn't know. Cigarettes, joints, who knows.

I ducked down, instantly sickened at the sight. "Jesus Christ," I whispered to myself. For a moment, I completely forgot Rin was sitting next to me.

"Look again," she said. "Look again."

I did. It was like watching a car crash; so gruesomely terrible that you can't help but watch. People ruining their lives. People wasting away at the hands of intoxicants. I noticed the man we had followed sitting on the couch, leaned back, eyes closed. He had a brown bottle in his hand. I looked over at Rin, who was staring intensely at the scene. Particularly, the back left corner of the scene.

Particularly, a person. Laying on their stomach. Unmoving.

"Oh God," I said, a deep pit of dread in my stomach.

She just stared.

It took me longer to recognize him. He looked a lot different than the last time I'd seen him. Skin and bone. Pale. Scruff growing on his chin, and up the sides of his face. He shaved his head to a buzzcut. His eyes were closed. He was completely still. I didn't look long enough to see if he was breathing. I didn't want to.

"Rin," I said, looking away.

She just stared.

I grabbed her arm. "Is he…?"

She stared. Just when I thought she wasn't going to reply, she did. "Let's go." She tore her eyes from the scene as nonchalantly as if she were watching an uninteresting zoo animal.

"What?" I said loudly as her feet plopped onto the concrete.

"Let's. Go." She repeated.

I jumped down next to her, grabbing her arms. "Aren't you gonna do something?"

She shrugged. "What do you want me to do? Go get him?"

I watched her with an appalled expression. " _He's your brother._ You can't tell me you don't feel _anything."_

Her gaze met mine with her usual intensity, then she pulled her phone out of pocket, and pushed herself away from me. She dialed the emergency line.

"This guy is unconscious. He won't wake up." She spoke into the phone in a dead voice. She told them the street's name. Then, she quickly raised the phone- with the call still active -and threw it into the pavement with all her strength. I took a step back. Pieces of the devices scattered in all directions around us.

We stood in silence for a few seconds before she finally spoke. "I shouldn't have done that."

I stared at the biggest remaining piece of her phone; a shattered screen with only a few plastic bits still attached. I pulled my own phone out of my pocket, and kneeled down. My perfectly intact phone looked ridiculous next to hers. I stood again, and stared at the pair.

She let out a laugh. I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't heard it myself. She actually laughed. At the phones. I looked up at her. She just found her brother's body, and she just _laughed._

"Are you okay?" I asked. Again, rather stupidly.

She giggled again, looking at the phones. And then, as quickly as they came, they were gone. Replaced once again by her stone look. "We need to leave. Now."

I agreed.

We ran back down the street, trying to find our path out again. The guitar didn't seem so heavy anymore.

She was right. It was nearly sunrise when we finally began to see more open land than civilization. The western sky before us was still dark with night, but, behind us, we could see the lighter shades beginning to cover the sky. We finally decided to stop and take a breakfast break when the first edge of the sun came into view. We walked off into the brush a little bit, found an empty spot, and sat down. Rin pulled a bag of chex mix out of her bag, and we ate in silence. We hadn't spoken much since we left the city, and we didn't need to. There wasn't much to say.

The dirt was cold. We ate half the bag, and put the rest away for later. I pulled my near-empty water bottle out of my backpack.

Birds were beginning to chirp around us. The air was cold, but fresh. The smell of the city was leaving us, and it felt amazing. The world was waking up. For us, it felt like this day had already dragged on forever.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" I asked her as I sipped at the last few drops.

She shook her head. "No. Do you have coats?" Dark circles lined her eyes.

I pulled out both jackets, handing one to her, and putting the other one on for myself. I suddenly wished I'd packed heavier jackets. I assumed we'd be home by now. _How much longer until she just says, "Fuck it, we're going home"?_

I looked to the east, at the rising sun. I imagined my parents waking up about now. Not knowing their son is missing for another few hours. What are they gonna do when they go downstairs to wake me up, and find me gone? The more I thought about it, the guiltier I felt. What about Kaito? Mom and Dad would go to the school first, like any smart parent. They'd pull Kaito into the office. Ask him about me. Ask him if he's seen me. Then _he'd_ get worried.

I bit my lip. No one would notice Rin as missing for a few days. She wouldn't show up to school today; they'd assume she skipped school. She had no one to report her missing. The thought saddened me.

I looked over at her. She had her eyes closed. My jacket was way too big for her, and she clutched it to her shoulders with shivering fingers. She looked ready to fall asleep sitting up.

My guitar sat in the dirt next to us. I'd already stopped trying to keep the case clean.

"Do you have any more?" I asked her, holding my empty bottle in front of her.

She opened her eyes, blinked at me for a few seconds, and shook her head. "We'll find another town by the time we need more. I'll buy a pack." She yawned.

I nodded.

"I'm so tired," she said softly.

"Me too. You wanna sleep?"

She shook her head again. "Someone'll drive by and see us. They'll be looking for you." She knew just as well as me that no one would be looking for her yet.

I sighed. The thought of getting back on my feet made m want to bury myself in this dirt.

She took a deep breath, and jumped to her feet. "We need to get as far from the city as possible. Before they start looking out here."

The guitar was heavier than ever. I rubbed dirt all over my jacket as I strung the strap over my shoulder, but I didn't care. It only took one night of wandering the city to find dirt under every one of my fingernails.

We walked away from the rising sun. We followed the path of the highway from the field, about fifty feet away. Yes, people could see us, but Rin was confident there wouldn't be police out for us this far yet. Even I was impressed by the distance we'd covered in one night.

Before we knew it, the sun was burning into our backs. I'd long returned the light jackets to my backpack, and I was out of water. Rin let me take sips out of her bottle, but, before noon, hers was out too.

"How long until the next city?" I asked her around midday. We were both thirsty, burning, tired, and miserable. _Please say we're turning back. Please._

She shook her head. A line of sweat ran along her forehead. "I don't know. Where are the goddamn _signs_."

I agreed silently. It seemed like eternities passed between the highway signs, telling us how many miles until the next city. The last one we'd seen had said the nearest city to be many, many miles away. That'd been hours ago.

"I'm sorry," Rin said. "I thought I brought more water with me."

I tried to pass the time by imagining what was happening at home. They knew I was gone now. That's for sure. But what did they know? My mind hurriedly tried to think of any clues I might have left behind, but the only thing that came to mind was my phone. It would have looked odd for the police to show up at that drug house, and find a completely intact phone next to a completely destroyed one. Two completely unrelated events happening in the same night. Hell, they might not even know it was mine. But when they did, they would know someone was with me. It felt odd to be hopeful at the fact that they would know Rin's missing with me. At least, then, she wouldn't be so invisible.

Rin stopped, interrupting me from my thoughts.

"Rin?" I asked her.

She bent over, putting her hands on her knees. "I can't keep walking through this damn grass." We were surrounded by tall, yellow weeds. They were taking their toll on me, too.

"What do you wanna do?" I asked her.

She stood panting. She didn't answer.

"We can go walk on the road, if you want to."

More panting. Then she nodded slightly.

We made a beeline toward the road. When we finally reached flat ground, Rin wasn't the only one relieved. My legs were still tired, but thankful. We walked along the side of the road from then on.

The most annoying part was during the afternoon. The sun had reached it's peak long ago, and was beginning it's descent into the western horizon. Neither of us had packed sunglasses. The sun shone bright in our eyes, causing both of u to walk forward with our eyes glued to the ground. The heat was unbearable. I was about ready to take off my shirt, but kept deciding against it. Rin would probably be a little weirded out, if not a bit jealous.

"Goddamn sun," I complained. The sun was close to touching the horizon.

Rin squinted, trying to see ahead. "I know."

We had no way of knowing what time it was, or how long until dark. A few cars passed us.

"Are you sure you have no more water?" I asked for the fiftieth time that day.

She shook her head. "I'm not taking off my backpack again. There's none in there."

I sighed. "I know." Cars drove by. I wondered what they thought of us.

The road was never ending. The long strip of grey ended at the horizon, and no matter how far we walked, we never seemed to be making any progress. The scenery around us was the same as it'd been hours ago, and will be hours ahead.

"This is hopeless," I said aloud.

Rin's shoulders heaved. She held up an arm to block the sun, and turned to look at me. "I know."

"I'm so tired," I complained.

"I know."

"I'm thirsty."

A car rushed past us.

"And I'm so fucking sore."

She went silent.

"And this _fucking_ guitar…" I trailed off, feeling a temper tantrum coming on. Rin took a step away from me. She could feel it coming too.

I threw it off my shoulder, and onto the ground. I heard the ugly _twang_ of the strings, usually a sign of damage, but I didn't care. I was able to get one good kick on it before Rin stopped me.

"Len-" she yelled, pushing me just out of reach of the instrument. She must have underestimated her own strength as she pushed me clear off my feet. I landed roughly on the road. I was breathing heavily, staring at the guitar. Rin was standing a few feet away from me, watching with her arms crossed. She was giving me a sour look.

After a minute of heated silence, my breathing slowed, and I looked down. I wouldn't admit it then, but I was ashamed of my actions.

"You didn't have to come, you know." Her voice broke the tense silence between us.

I couldn't find anything to say. More cars.

When she was sure I wasn't going to reply, she turned her back to me, and fell to her knees next to the dirt-covered case. I watched her unzip it. She pushed open the flap, and stared down at the guitar. I couldn't see it from my angle; still sprawled out on the ground. I didn't think I wanted to.

"You cracked it," she informed me.

I sprung up, and crawled to the case. _No,_ I thought. _Not my baby._ But she was right. A large crack now ran just under the sound hole, all the way down to the bottom of the guitar. I ran a finger over it, feeling a tear come to my eye.

"Fuck," I whispered with a sigh. "It's…" I softened my voice again, all traces of anger gone. "It's okay. It'll be able to play. It's o-"

My voice was drowned out by the sound of a semi-truck driving past us. Rin furrowed her brow, and looked over her shoulder at it. I watched it pass as well, and realized with a sinking feeling in my chest that it was slowing down. It was stopping. On the side of the road.

"Fuck!" This time it was Rin who cursed. She rose to her feet, looking like an animal being stalked. She was ready to run at a moment's notice. I zipped up the case and stood with her.

We watch the semi slow to a stop. We both held our breath, waiting for something to happen. _Is this it?_ I thought to myself. _Am I finally going home?_

Then, after a brief pause, the side door opened, and a person stepped out. A man. With long hair. Long… purple hair?

"Hey!" He yelled from a ways down the road. "Do you guys need a ride?"

I looked at Rin. She looked at me. Neither of us knew what to do.

"Yeah!" She yelled, still looking at me. She began walking toward him. "We could use a ride."

The man nodded, holding the door open. I followed Rin up to him. My heart was still pumping.

"What're you kids doing out here?" The man asked when we were close enough to speak to each other without shouting.

"We're not from here." Rin lied quickly. "We thought these towns were _much_ closer together."

The man nodded. He was wearing a plain t-shirt with sweatpants. Comfortable. "In walking distance? Cordon City is almost a five-hour drive from here," he informed us. We already knew this, to some extent.

I'll admit, I was impressed my Rin's quick thinking. "Are you headed in that direction?"

The man climbed into the car of the semi. "Yeah. We'd be happy to take you there." He disappeared in the truck. Rin started after him, but I grabbed her shirt.

"Do you really think this is a good idea?" I asked her in a hushed voice.

She looked over her shoulder at me. "Do you have any better ideas?"

I didn't. So I climbed the tall steps after her, into the passenger's seat of the car.

The man had already found his place in the driver's seat. The front was much roomier than I thought. There were the two seats in the front with a decent sized space between them, leading into the living area of the car. We couldn't see it, however. There was a white sheet with intricate green patterns hanging in the way. The entire place reeked of coffee.

"We can't go back there right now," the man said. "Gumi's asleep."

A female voice sounded from behind the curtain. "I _was_ asleep until your sorry ass had to pick up more hitchhikers."

The man shrugged, starting up the semi. "She's just cranky." He held out a hand to Rin. "I'm Gakupo. Gaku, for short." He gave her a warm smile.

She hesitantly took his hand, shaking it. I did the same.

I gave Rin the front seat. There was a small stool sitting behind Gaku's chair, so I pulled it out and set it between the two of them in the walkway. I set by guitar case on the ground, watching it with a bit of guilt. It felt amazing to get off my feet. I could tell Rin felt the same, and I almost envied her in her cushioned seat.

"Do you, by any chance, have any water?" Rin asked.

"Yeah," Gaku answered, pulling the huge truck back onto the road. "There's a cabinet right above my seat. Help yourself."

 _Oh good God,_ I thought to myself, standing up instantly and throwing up the cabin. Dozens of unopened water bottles stood, waiting for me. I grabbed three; one for Rin, two for me. I handed hers to her, and she chugged it gratefully I did the same.

"Lucky we picked you up when we did, huh?" He chuckled.

Rin gave one of her insincere smiles. "I'm Rin. And this is Len."

He nodded. "Nice to meet you two." He sat up straight in his seat, using the top of the windshield to block the setting sun.

Rin yawned. "Thank you so much," she told him.

"No problem," he said. "How long were you guys walking?"

I decided to let Rin do all the talking. "We left our hotel in the city this morning."

"You must be exhausted," he said.

I chuckled. "You have no idea."

"So where you guys from?" The highway sped past us as Gaku spoke.

Rin paused. "Washington," she told him. I wondered if she just thought of the most random place possible.

"What're you guys doing all the way down here?"

"Visiting family. My mom's been sick lately, and we came to visit her."

It seemed so easy for her to make up these backstories. Such a great liar. I briefly wondered, out of all the conversations we'd had, how many lies she'd told _me._

"So what're you guys doing walking to Cordon?" He was asking a lot of questions. _He doesn't seem suspicious,_ I assured myself. _Maybe he's just trying to make conversation._

"She's, uh, staying at the hospital in this city. We flew in at the airport downtown." Her voice faltered for the first time.

Gaku nodded. "I hope she feels better."

She sighed sadly. "Me too."

A silence filled the cabin. I didn't like it. It felt uncomfortable… the only noise was the sound of cars rushing back toward the city.

"So," I said, before thinking about where I was going with this. "How long have you been driving trucks?"

Everyone seemed thankful for the conversation starter. "This'll be my second year," he said proudly.

"Where have you driven?" Rin asked. She held an arm up over her face, blocking the sun.

"Well, we've been to every state - except Hawaii, obviously - and we drove through Canada last summer."

I hid behind the driver's seat to block the sun myself. "Have you driven with someone the entire time?"

"Yeah," Gaku answered. "Gumi and I have been partners since day one."

I nearly jumped out of my seat as the blanket was pulled back behind me, and a woman stepped out. "Unfortunately," she added. She was wearing the same general outfit as Gaku, but with a white tank top instead. Her green hair stood out in odd places, and her face was still fresh from her nap. Cranky, indeed.

"Morning," Gaku greeted. She just rolled her eyes. With ith the blanket pulled back, I could see the living area in the back. There were a pair of bunk beds on the far wall, which looked really comfortable at the time, with shelves and cabinets lining the walls around them. There was even a small microwave sitting to right of the beds.

Gumi pulled out a stool similar to mine from behind Rin's seat. "Who are you two?" She asked rather rudely.

"We're the hitchhikers," Rin replied with just as much attitude as she received.

Gumi nodded, and went silent again.

"Yeah," Gaku continued. "I've been on the road for about two years now."

"That's pretty cool," Rin commented.

"It's alright. But there are some downsides to it."

Rin cocked her head to the side. "Like what?"

Gaku took a deep breath. "I miss my family."

I think that took both Rin and I off guard. She didn't say anything. I noticed Gumi turn to look at him, a distasteful look on her face.

"Sorry," he continued. "I didn't mean to spoil the mood."

"No, no. It's okay," Rin assured him. "I miss my family too."

Gaku shrugged. "This is a good getaway, too." He sighed again. "Everyone's running from something."

We all fell into silence once again.

When I was sure no one was going to speak again, I leaned back against the wall and zipped open the top of my guitar case. The head of the instrument wasn't damaged, but I still felt horrible about my temper tantrum. Minutes ticked past as I lovingly looked over the thing, wondering if it'd be possible to fix.

I nearly jumped out of my seat when the radio on the dashboard flared to life. Gumi stood, shooed Rin out of the passenger seat, and grabbed the mic.

"What is it?" The green-haired girl asked as Rin sat on the stood across from me.

The voice on the radio was almost too full of static to understand. "Where are you guys?" The voice was male.

"We're on I-70. About an hour and a half outside of Cordon," Gumi said into the speaker.

There was a sigh on the other end. "Turn around now. Highway's closed right before town."

There was a slight pause. "Are you fucking kidding me?" Gumi growled. The more I heard her speak, the more frightened I was of her.

"Why?" Gaku asked, already slowing the truck down in preparation to turn back.

"I'm not sure," the voice in the radio said. "The cops had the place shut down. Probably a car crash or something."

Rin shot me a look that I didn't understand.

Gumi's shoulders slumped. "Is that it?"

"Yeah. Just wanted to let you guys know."

"Thanks, man," Gaku said.

"Anytime."

Gumi hung the speaker back on the radio, and let out a loud groan of annoyance. "The fuck are we gonna do now?"

Gaku looked up and down the highway. There wasn't another car in sight. "We're just gonna have to turn back. We'll probably go back to the city, and take the highway north."

Rin gave me another uneasy look. This one, I understood.

"No no no," Gumi argued instantly. "We gotta go south. We can't drive through that storm up."

"If we drive north, we'll easily be in Cordon by sunrise."

Gumi crossed her arms. " _You're_ not the one driving tonight," she pointed out.

"I'm _also_ not the one who's gonna show up any later than we have to. If we're not at that truckstop by noon tomorrow, they'll kill us." Gaku began turning the huge semi around on the road. Rin and I exchanged yet another look. _We can't go back._

"We're. Going. South." Gumi spoke through clenched teeth.

"We're. Going. North." Gaku replied the same way.

Rin took the chance during their bickering to jump over to my side of the car.

"What're we gonna do?" She whispered.

"I-I don't know," I answered.

"It'd be way too risky for us to go back."

"I know. But I really don't wanna go walking anymore."

Rin took a deep breath, and looked away from me. "Do you think those cops are looking for us?"

"What?"

"The cops that shut down the highway. What if it isn't a car crash? What if they know where we're going?"

I shook my head. "There's no way they would know."

"What if they found your phone?" She asked softly.

"So what?"

"Can they…" she searched for her words. "Could they listen to our calls?"

I hadn't thought of that. "I don't think so. But maybe."

She didn't answer. Gumi and Gakupo were still yelling at each other in the front seat. But Rin's worried expression was all I could focus on.

"Hey," I started, trying to comfort her. "They said they aren't going to get to Cordon 'till tomorrow, so why don't we just sleep through the night? We could both use it. And those beds look pretty nice."

She nodded, but she didn't seem convinced.

"How about this," Gaku had raised his voice quite a bit. "When I get tired, you can drive. And if you're driving when we get back to the city, then _you_ can take your oh-so _amazing_ southern highway."

"That's not fair." Instead of raising her voice, Gumi simply chopped up her words more. Let them out with force. Somehow, it scared me even more. "You're just gonna turn onto the northern highway and pull over immediately to go to bed."

"Now you're just giving me ideas," he smirked.

She let out another irritated growl.

"How're you two back there?" Gaku asked.

I thought Rin was going to reply, but she didn't. "We're, uh, tired. Really tired. Do you mind if we crash on these beds back here?"

"Of course! Help yourself. I'd be tired too if I'd walked down I-70 for half the day." Gaku had instantly recovered his happy tone after their fight.

I turned to Rin, who had already set her bag next to my guitar case and was scrambling up to the top bunk.

"Hey," I popped my head between the two seats. Gumi shot me a look. Gaku kept his eyes on the road. "We really appreciate this," I continued. "Could we… like, pay you for your troubles?"

Much to my surprise, Gumi let out a few long, hearty laughs. she turned in her seat, locking her harsh gaze with mine. "If I were you," she began in a snooty voice. "I would _not_ trust this guy-" she pointed at Gaku. "-with your money."

She turned back in her seat, looking at the road in front of her. Gaku's face had turned completely blank, something I hadn't seen in the short time I'd known him.

Behind me, Rin chuckled softly. "How have you guys been on the road together for so long?"

Gumi was the one to reply. "We get along alot better when neither of us say anything."

And that was the end of that conversation, thankfully. Rin was sitting on the top bunk, her leg dangling over the side.

"Get some sleep," I told her quietly.

She nodded, and pulled her feet up. I snuggled down into my bed just as she did the same. The second her settling stopped, I knew she was asleep.

It was not the same case for me. I don't know how long I laid there. My mind was racing about returning home. There was no way we could get caught back here. Why would the police decide to check this random semi truck for two runaways?

I thought of Mom and Dad again. They must be so worried. And Kaito. And everyone I knew.

I thought of Camden. I wondered if he was alive. Because he certainly didn't look like it at the drug house.

I thought of Rin the most. _I miss my family too,_ she had told them. At the time, I assumed it was part of the act. But I wasn't so sure anymore.

"The only bright side is the sun isn't in our eyes anymore," Gumi said at some point through the night.

I was finally half asleep when I felt the truck pull over, and Gumi and Gaku switched places. We hadn't reached the city yet. We drove south.


End file.
